Links Foreign and Domestic, 11/23/09

“Not at Home in Germany: Almost Half of Turkish Migrants Want to Leave” (h/t Ario) – from the article: …more younger Turks want to return to Turkey than their elders. This is despite the fact that almost two thirds of respondents to the study (61 percent altogether)– one of the first polls to compare the world views of around a thousand individuals from Turkey, Germany and the Turkish population living in Germany — had been born in Germany or had been living in the country for over 30 years. Turks are the largest ethnic minority in Germany and make up almost 4 percent of the country’s population. Yet only 21 percent of those polled feel happy to call Germany home.

Edward Niedermeyer, “Taking Taxpayers for a Ride” (h/t Josh) – from the article: Mr. Bloom’s clear signal that the administration is jumping ship is especially galling in light of the frothy optimism generated by G.M.’s “repayment” announcement. If tens of billions in lost tax dollars is simply the inescapable price of preventing a systemic economic collapse, the White House should tell us so. Instead, it seems to be allowing the perception to settle that G.M. will repay its obligations, while all the while plans are formulated to sell off the taxpayer’s portion of the company at any price.

Megan McArdle, Parsing the Senate Debate on Health Care – from the article: John McCain was on fire, in full on “flaming sword of righteousness” mode. He was practically shaking with anger as he called out the government for negotiating with the pharma companies, and yelled at the pharmas for raising their prices this year. Pharma seems to have followed a standard “Memorial Day Sale” strategy–they’ve raised prices by about 10% this year, in preparation for the deep discounts they’ll have to offer in the future. John McCain thought that this was terrible, and said so, to awkward silence from his colleagues. They brightened up considerably when he said “Shame on the AARP” for endorsing this plan that does its members no good, accused them of getting paid off, and told people to tear up their AARP cards. He and Bob Corker were pretty much the high points.

About Ashok

Student of Political Philosophy. Writes too much, badly needs an editor. Everything on this blog will eventually be revised or eliminated. The hope of this blog is to present you varied, thoughtful works, ones not typically engaged online. Contact me.

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"I hold there is no sin but ignorance" - Machiavelli, in Marlowe's The Jew of Malta